RPSGT

St. Elizabeth Healthcare•Lawrenceburg, IN

11d

About The Position

The Polysomnographic Technologist works under the general supervision of the clinical director (M.D., D.O., or PhD) or designee to provide comprehensive evaluation and treatment of sleep disorders. Work may involve polysomnography, diagnostic and therapeutic services, patient care, and education. The technologist can perform duties defined for a Polysomnographic Technician and may supervise other staff. The role also includes initiating and conducting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (BLS). The position prepares patients and equipment for sleep testing, gathers and analyzes patient information, performs and monitors polysomnographic procedures, documents observations, and may score sleep studies and generate reports. It includes equipment care and maintenance, patient safety, quality assurance, record keeping, professional development, and collaboration as part of the Sleep Disorders Team. The technologist provides respectful, compassionate service to patients, families, visitors, and coworkers.

Requirements

Registered by the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) as a Registered Polysomnographic Technologist.
Basic life support (CPR) certification.
Maintain current CPR or BCLS certification.
Demonstrate effective written and spoken communication skills and appropriate social skills.
Comply with BRPT Standards of Conduct and applicable safety and infection-control requirements.
Complete annual competencies and required Federal, State, and System annual requirements.

Nice To Haves

Successful completion of a polysomnography program of at least one year associated with a state-licensed and/or nationally accredited educational facility, or equivalent experience and documented proficiency in all competencies required of a Polysomnographic Technician.
Registered or Certified Respiratory Therapist (RRT or CRT).
Familiarity with microcomputers.
Familiarity with Hospital Information Systems (HIS).

Responsibilities

Demonstrate respectful, dignified, kind, and empathetic conduct with patients, families, visitors, and employees.
Take accountability for behavior and contribute to customer satisfaction; interact with internal and external customers using AIDET methodology.
Prepare and calibrate testing equipment, apply electrodes and sensors, perform physiologic calibrations, and fit positive airway pressure (PAP) masks.
Collect, analyze, and integrate patient information to identify patient-specific needs and determine testing parameters with the ordering physician or clinical director and laboratory protocols.
Complete and verify documentation and explain pre-testing, testing, and post-testing procedures to patients.
Conduct polysomnographic procedures, including MSLT, MWT, parasomnia studies, PAP and oxygen titration within the SDC, patient hook-ups and education for ambulatory sleep studies, and unattended inpatient sleep studies.
Follow lights-out and lights-on procedures, establish and document baseline values, verify collected data, and complete data collection.
Acquire polysomnographic data while monitoring tracing quality and making adjustments as needed.
Document routine observations, sleep stages, clinical events, procedural changes, and significant events to support scoring and interpretation.
Implement appropriate patient-safety and therapeutic interventions, including CPAP or bilevel positive airway pressure and oxygen administration within the SDC.
Provide age-specific care, assessment, treatment, and education for neonatal, pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients.
Oversee and perform difficult or unusual procedures and therapeutic interventions.
Continuously monitor patient activity and safety, annotate patient changes, and document or eliminate artifacts and record cardiac arrhythmias or behavioral changes.
Maintain, clean, evaluate, and make minor repairs to equipment; evaluate sleep-study equipment and inventory.
Inform the Sleep Disorders physician and/or supervisor of questionable patient illness or behavior.
Collect additional data and perform quality assurance, submit patient charges and credits, and maintain related records.
May score sleep/wake stages and clinical events according to accepted guidelines and center-specific protocols, and may generate reports by tabulating data.
Comply with laws, regulations, guidelines, safety and infection-control standards, and BRPT Standards of Conduct.
Maintain current CPR or BCLS certification and demonstrate effective written and spoken communication and appropriate social skills.
Respond to participants' procedure-related questions with appropriate information and analyze complex situations while applying policy.
Pursue self-development, identify annual goals, complete required annual requirements and competencies, and seek development opportunities.
Maintain professionalism, protect confidential and protected health information, use proper communication channels, and keep current with Health System communications.
Work as part of the Sleep Disorders Team and function independently when necessary.
If an RRT or CRT, perform registered or certified respiratory therapist duties as workload demands.
Perform other duties as assigned.